REVIEW: Love You Hate You Drive You Wild – Minola Theatre

Love You Hate You Drive You Wild

Presented by: Minola Theatre and PIP Theatre

"Niceness is ruining my life."

As soon as you spot the giant moose head on the wall, it becomes clear this isn't a run-of-the-mill exploratory play about mental health. Love You Hate You Drive You Wild, brought to life by Minola Theatre and PIP Theatre, is a wild, tender, and emotionally charged rollercoaster through the beautiful mess that is Molly’s mind. Penned by Bianca Butler Reynolds (who also starred as Annika), this semi-autobiographical tale brims with humour, heart, and an astonishing depth of emotional realism.

The protagonist, Molly (played with stunning vulnerability and nuance by Alisha O’Brien), is a painfully polite Canadian who moves to Australia in search of a fresh start, only to find herself trapped in a dead-end job, unable to shake her past or tame her inner demons. One of those demons—literally—is Moose (played by Colin Smith): a loud, snarky, magnificently antlered figment of her imagination who embodies her depression, anxiety, and those pesky self-sabotaging thoughts. Colin was sensational in the role, perfectly balancing campy hilarity with sinister undertones, and delivering scathing inner monologues with the flair of a seasoned cabaret villain.

Alisha O'Brien’s performance was astonishingly layered. She captured Molly’s physical discomfort, clenched politeness, and spiralling self-doubt with remarkable precision. Watching her slow descent into a mental breakdown was confronting, cathartic, all too relatable: through botched public moments, job interview disasters, social meltdowns, and the deep loneliness of bottled-up emotions.

Matthew Filkins proved a crowd favourite as Gavin, the David Bowie-tribute artist neighbour who burst into Molly’s life with glitter, leotards, and unexpected kindness. Matthew brought a radiant light to the stage every time he appeared, offering Molly the kind of unconditional friendship she never knew she needed (but was unquestionably better off having) like a human disco ball of warmth and support.

Bianca Butler Reynolds, in the role of Annika, was a hurricane of energy (with a side of diagnosed bipolar disorder). She embodied the kind of bold and brash person who barges into your life like an uninvited guest at a party and you just have to roll with it. According to her playwright notes, Annika represents Molly’s Jungian shadow: everything she fears about herself, but maybe needs to embrace. The tension between the two characters crackled, with one particularly intense scene in which Annika screams at Molly, leaving the audience visibly rattled.

Daren King played a cavalcade of secondary characters—from the insufferably chummy boss Clive, to a sleazy interviewer who took manspreading to an Olympic level, to a delightfully bizarre holistic therapist named Lionel (who would prescribe you a hug). Daren's range was seriously impressive, shifting from comedy to sincerity in a heartbeat.

The show’s strength lay not only in its writing and performances, but also in its production design. Morrigan Moore’s set was deceptively simple—a couch, a desk, a four-cube shelf, and some doors—but it transformed into workplaces, bars, therapist offices, and inner mindscapes thanks to moody lighting and precise sound design. The red wash during Molly’s depressive episode, combined with Moose’s cruel whisperings, was particularly gutting.

While mental illness is a central theme, Love You Hate You Drive You Wild didn’t dwell in despair. Instead, it celebrated vulnerability, growth, and the power of allowing yourself to be seen. A moment late in the show where Molly let loose at karaoke, finally shaking off the weight of her shame, felt like a collective exhale from all in the theatre. And the ending struck a note of hope without feeling unrealistic. A hard-earned triumph.

This play is for anyone who has ever been too polite, too scared, too tired, or too hard on themselves. It is for those of us who battles our own moose-like monsters daily, and still try to dance. It’s a raw, witty, heartfelt story about embracing yourself in all its awkward, hilarious, ugly, beautiful glory.

Presented by: Minola Theatre and PIP Theatre

Venue: PIP Theatre, Milton

Written by: Bianca Butler Reynolds

Directed by: Kat Dekker

Production Design: Morrigan Moore

Stage Management, Sound & Lighting: Ursula Heesh and Joe Rogers

Photographs by Kris Anderson